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Master Drummers of Dagbon "There
are heavy spiritual repercussions when masters of drumming
express themselves in a tradition of artistic genius. The
singing of
the drums resembles the breathing of the wind, and when the sound of
the drumming dies, it moves away like exhaled breath. The
bass drums
vibrate inside the earth. I have heard drumming in the night
in Dagbon
and gone to search for it, but as I moved toward it, it seemed to come
from a different direction. It would not be until the next
day that I
would learn that the drumming had come from a village two or three
miles away."
Sample songs: Tora
(3:12) Gaabite
Zamanduniya (6:00)
"The praise-name dances are danced individually inside a dance circle, where the drummers surround a dancer to beat their rhythms through his or her body so that, as the Dagbamba say, 'the body is enlightened.' The experience of dancing with drummers on all sides is incredible, for the sound is more than quadraphonic: those who seek the feeling of authentic participation may begin to appreciate the technological prescience of the Dagbamba drummers by using headphones at high volume." Sample MP3s present only the first few seconds of a song. To encourage understanding of the gradually increasing intensity and dynamics of Dagbamba drumming, I would recommend listening to a full song. Web Reviews |
Dagbana boy with toy drum | Young Baamaaya dancers |
Boys' Takai ensemble |